We pick some of the best-looking releases coming out on Saturday April 22nd - the 10th anniversary of Record Store Day!

Much has been made of the ‘vinyl revival’ in albums sales over the last five years or so, with old-fashioned records going ever upwards while CD sales and download sales plateau or tumble. The upsurge in the format’s popularity is in part because of Record Store Day.

Record Store Day 2017

Taking place on a Saturday every April, RSD is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2017, after it was founded to help out struggling independent record stores that were struggling to compete with supermarkets and the likes of HMV (now, streaming and downloads).

Directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas serving as executive producer, 1986 movie 'Labyrinth' featured David Bowie as The Goblin King and told a hugely mysterious, yet addictive and compelling story that has worked its way into the hearts of viewers ever since its big screen release.

Initially a box office disappointment, falling short of its budget when it came to raking in the cash at movie theatres, the movie has since gained a huge cult following and become an unlikely classic, no doubt partly in thanks to the late David Bowie.

Design team This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll had hoped to raise £900,000 to build their 'thunderbolt' memorial in Brixton, but fell well short.

Plans to construct a huge ‘ZiggyZag’ thunderbolt memorial to the late David Bowie in his hometown of Brixton have had to be abandoned after the fundraising campaign fell short of its target.

Design team This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll, who organised the fundraiser after gaining planning approval from Lambeth council for the three-storey sculpture, intended to be the red thunderbolt that adorns Bowie’s face on his iconic 1973 album Aladdin Sane, had wanted to raise £900,000 for the project.

'Cracked Actor', a 3xLP 1974 live recording, and 'Bowpromo', a very rare disc of 1971 demo versions, are both going on sale in limited numbers on Record Store Day 2017.

More than a year after his death, the David Bowie vaults are being opened, with two albums’ worth of unreleased material set to be released next month in time for this year’s Record Store Day.

For hard-bitten fans, however, there’s set to be intense competition to get hold of these releases, with both albums being limited editions for the tenth anniversary of RSD in April.

Cracked Actor (Live in Los Angeles 1974) is the first release, a three-album set recorded on the September 1974 Philly Dogs tour – some songs of which appeared in the famous BBC documentary ‘Cracked Actor’. It appears on five sides of vinyl in a 3xLP set, with the sixth side featuring an etching of Bowie.

David Bowie and Rag'n'Bone Man both won two awards at the 2017 BRIT Awards at the O2 Arena in London last night.

The late David Bowie was the big winner at last night’s Brit Awards, winning two of the biggest categories in Best British Male artist and Best British Album for his final record, Blackstar.

The iconic and influential singer died on January 10th last year, and while the BRITs paid tribute to him at the 2016 ceremony, it was the 2017 edition in which Bowie was posthumously nominated for his final works.

“He's always been there supporting people who think they're a little bit weird or a little bit strange. He's ways been there for them. This award is for all the kooks and all the people who make the kooks,” said Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, collecting the best album prize.

Design team This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll is behind the proposal for a three-storey recreation of the 'Aladdin Sane' thunderbolt to be erected on Tunstall Road.

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched with the aim of installing a permanent memorial to the late music icon David Bowie in his native Brixton, just streets away from where he was born.

The planned memorial will consist of a three-storey (nine-metre) replication of the thunderbolt that adorns the front cover of his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. It is proposed to be located in Tunstall Road, directly adjacent to the famous mural to which fans flocked immediately following his death 13 months ago.

A set of 10 stamps, consisting of six album covers and four tour photographs, is to be released on March 14th.

The late David Bowie is to be commemorated by the Royal Mail with a full set of 10 postage stamps that will be released later this year.

The limited edition collection, which features six album covers and four photographs from his various tours, will be put into circulation on March 14th.

The Royal Mail has paid tribute to popular musicians in the past, releasing a set of images marking The Beatles' career in 2010, and then a selection of Pink Floyd stamps in 2015. Similarly, the Pink Floyd collection also used four tour photos and six albums. It’s the first time the postal service has dedicated an entire collection to just one cultural icon, however.

Bowie had very rarely performed live after his heart attack on tour in 2004.

David Bowie was at one point contemplating a short tour to support his final album Blackstar before his death, according to the man who designed the artwork for the record.

Designer Jonathan Barnbrook, speaking at an event at London’s V&A museum to mark the late rock icon’s 70th birthday, told the NME that Bowie and he had discussed the possibility of a short, intimate tour to support his 25th studio album at a preview listening session in the summer of 2015 – when Bowie was still optimistic about beating his cancer.

“I asked him as I always did, 'are you going to do a tour?' The first he said, which was ridiculous was 'I'm not much of a performer, you know?'”, Barnbrook said.

Iman shared some photographic tributes on the first anniversary of her husband's death.

David Bowie’s widow Iman has shared a tribute to her late husband via social media to mark the first anniversary of his passing.

The pop icon, beloved by different generations of music fans for a lengthy, varied and innovative career, died on January 10th 2016. Tributes flooded in from throughout the world at the time, and subsequent twelve months saw a great number of memorials and performances to remember his life.

Somalian-born model Iman, 61, who married Bowie in 1992 and had a daughter Alexandria with him, shared a picture of the New York City skyline with a beautiful double rainbow via her Instagram.

David Bowie documentary reveals 'Lazarus' did not hint at the singer's death.

David Bowie only learnt his cancer was terminal three months before his death.

The late legendary singer sadly passed away at the age of 69 from liver cancer just two days after he released his final album 'Blackstar' in January last year but a new documentary on his life has suggested that he had no idea he was battling the illness while he was recording the LP.

Speaking in the documentary 'David Bowie: The Last Five Years' Johan Renck - who directed the video for 'Lazarus', which sees the star lying in a hospital bed with bandages over his eyes - said the concept had ''nothing to do'' with his illness.

The annual list, compiled by website Art Vinyl, of fifty shortlisted pieces of album artwork of the last 12 months was revealed at the end of December, and the final list of the top three was revealed on Thursday (January 5th).

A 1969 image of Tina Turner adorns the front cover of The Last Shadow Puppets’ second record, which was released in April last year, almost eight years after the group – consisting of Miles Kane and Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner – released their debut The Age of The Understatement.

Rock royalty deaths easily earned the "least favorite musical moments of 2016" award. Despite the loss of talented artists, the music that came into being in 2016 had quite a few highlights. Here are ten enjoyable, rock-oriented albums, arranged chronologically, ranging from contemporary radio pop to underground hardcore thrash.

Jan. 8, 2016: The year's first entry is David Bowie's immaculate and stunning finale, "Blackstar". An eclectic mix of art rock, modern jazz, and honest pop, the seven songs (five new, two re-recorded) provide a solemn glimpse into the perspective of someone facing their final days on Earth. "Blackstar" may have been Bowie's final recording before his death, but his estate has fortunately planned that it will not be the last for this immortal, genre defining artist.

The life and work of David Bowie will be celebrated next year with a series of shows across the globe on what would have been his 70th birthday. A variety of stars and artists are due to pay tribute at the event, including Bowie's main musical collaborators, his friends, and a series of other musicians.

David Bowie's 70th birthday to be celebrated in January

In honour of David Bowie's birthday and in the run-up to the first anniversary of his death, the stars will align to produce a celebratory concert of more than 70 acts entitled 'Celebrating David Bowie'. It's a show that one spokesperson has branded 'create a sound like no other'.

47 lots from Bowie's extensive art collection fetched a total of £24.3 million on Thursday night at Sotheby's.

The first day of the auctioning of art owned by the late David Bowie has taken in a grand total of £24.3 million – more than double what had been estimated by experts before bidding started.

47 artworks were sold at Sotheby’s in London on Thursday (November 10th), in the first of three sessions of bidding that will offer a total of nearly 400 items collected by Bowie in his lifetime. Art experts originally predicted that they would fetch between £8.1 million to £11.7 million.

David Bowie was rumoured to form a secret band, according to fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.

David Bowie was rumoured to form a secret band, according to fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.

The late singer - who passed away in January aged 69 years old - was reportedly in talks with a group of musicians to record a number of tracks in a ''raw state'' prior to his death because it was his life long ''dream'' of his.

In an extract from the 65-year-old creative mastermind's memoir 'American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion and Business', which has been obtained by The New York Posts's Page Six Column, Tommy wrote: ''His [Bowie's] dream was to gather incredible musicians and create music that they had never rehearsed, read or even seen before.

The director unveils a second documentary in the wake of the singer's death.

The final years of David Bowie are to be explored in a brand new BBC Two documentary entitled 'David Bowie: The Last Five Years' next year, to commemorate the first anniversary of the singer's death. It will be released as part of a series of other special BBC tributes.

David Bowie remembered in 'The Last Five Years'

The film will examine the making of his last two albums, 2013's 'The Next Day' and 2016's 'Blackstar', as well as the debut of his musical 'Lazarus' which opened in New York on December 7th 2015 and also marked the legend's final public appearance. 'Lazarus' continued its run by opening in London in October, and will continue to play until January next year.

Grime artist Skepta, who enjoyed a breakthrough smash hit with 'Shutdown' earlier this year, won the 2016 Mercury Prize for his album 'Konnichiwa'.

Grime star Skepta has edged out competition from red hot favourite David Bowie to win the 2016 Mercury Prize for his album Konnichiwa in London.

The crowd at the Hammersmith Apollo erupted when Skepta’s name was announced as the eventual winner of the prestigious prize by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker on Thursday night (September 16th).

The bookies had tipped David Bowie to win posthumously for his final album Blackstar, released just two days before his death in January this year, but the 33 year North London rapper was not very far behind in their estimations either.

Soul singer Tina Turner, 73, has married her 57 year-old German beau Erwin Bach in a Swiss ceremony.

Tina Turner has married German record producer Erwin Bach in an exclusive ceremony on the shores of the beautiful Lake Zurich near their Kusnacht home. The pair have been dating since the eighties, with Turner publicly stating they'd never get married after her first marriage to Ike Turner turned out to be a toughie. Back when their engagement was announced earlier this year the media exploded with whoops of "toyboy!" and "cougar!" but it seems that their age difference - 16 years - has had no negative impact upon the happiness of their relationship.

Tina Turner, Soul Diva, Has Given Marriage Another Shot.

In 2006, Turner dispelled any notion that she and Bach would ever exchange vows during an interview with Oprah Winfrey (as reported by The Daily Mail), voicing her concerns over the implications of a marriage: "People often ask me why don't I marry. I have love. I have a good life. I don't need to interfere with that. For some people, marriage means "You're mine now."

Adam Levine, the lead singer of Maroon 5, is engaged to Victoria's Secret model Behati Prinsloo. He seems to be following in the footsteps of Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones frontman who is renowned for his relationships with models.

Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine is engaged to Behati Prinsloo. His representative confirmed their engagement in a statement issued on Tuesday 16th July. The statement, made to People magazine, reads: "Adam Levine and his girlfriend Behati Prinsloo are excited to announce they are engaged to be married"

Adam Levine at the launch of his fragrance, Macy's, New York.

The couple started dating in May 2012 but separated earlier this year. It's come as something of a surprise when Levine proposed to Prinsloo over the weekend. It's certainly a romantic story with such a spontaneous demonstration of love. However, the singer's involvement with Behati is somewhat cliché.

Mick Jagger's lock of hair eventually sold for $6,000 (approx. £4,000) at a recent auction held Bonhams auction house

Mick Jagger has long had some of the most enviable locks of hair on the planet, so when a single lock of his hair went up for auction recently there was always going to be plenty of attention drawn towards the unusual auction lot. According to Reuters, the lock sold at the auction house Bonhams in London for a substantial £4,000 ($6,000).

There have been plenty of music comebacks this year, from David Bowie to Justin Timberlake to Daft Punk. But we all know the one you’ve really been waiting for, don’t we? It’s Paris Hilton of course! Tragically MIA from the music industry since her 2006 debut LP Paris (which, we were shocked to re-discover, went to number six on the Billboard charts and sold around 200,000 copies in the States,) she’s confirmed that she’s back in the music making game! And has signed a record deal with, um, a hip hop label!

Showbiz411 first reported the story, Paris is apparently already recording her second album and is putting it out on the world famous rap label CashMoney! And Lil Wayne’s possibly going to be one it! So does that mean that the multi-millionaire heiress is going to be spitting some mad rhymes on her forthcoming material? Not quite, though she insists that it will be a markedly different sound from her previous record. We can’t remember what her previous sound was, so we’re just going to nod blindly in agreement with her.

“This is a lot different than my first album,” Paris Showbiz 411. “It’s really going to be house music.” Sounds great! Perhaps. Ever the business woman, Hilton also revealed she was back at work on her fragrance ranges. “I’m getting ready to launch my 17th perfume,” she said. “And I’m also starting the Paris Hilton Foundation for children’s causes.”

Trevor Bolder, the bassist in David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars backing band, has passed away aged 62 – and Bowie himself has been leading the tributes to the fallen musician.

Bolder played a big part in one of the most iconic phases of the Thin White Duke’s career, playing with the star during the Ziggy Stardust era and contributing to three of his most seminal records, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and the Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Sky News reported a statement by Bowie, that said: "Trevor was a wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with. But he was foremostly a tremendous guy, a great man."

Following playing for Bowie, Bolder went on to join the band Uriah Heep in 1976, and only stopped playing a few months ago owing to his poor health. A statement from that band said: "It is with great sadness that Uriah Heep announce the passing of our friend the amazing Trevor Bolder, who has passed away after his long fight with cancer. Trevor was an all-time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced.”

David Bowie isn’t exactly known for his generic pop songs. No, this guys a boundary-pusher, and this time he’s gone down the religion route, making The Catholic League angry.

America's "largest Catholic civil rights organisation", has taken issue with the video's overtly religious subject matter – posting a scathing blog post on its website titled "BOWIE'S 'JESUS' VIDEO IS A MESS". The group's President Bill Donohue writes: "David Bowie is back, but hopefully not for long. The switch-hitting, bisexual, senior citizen from London has resurfaced, this time playing a Jesus-like character who hangs out in a nightclub dump frequented by priests, cardinals and half-naked women." He’s not finished there, Donohue claims that the video is"strewn with characteristic excess" and Bowie himself is described as "nothing if not confused about religion". Donohue concludes: "In short, the video reflects the artist – it is a mess." Bowie’s comeback has been celebrated by pretty everyone up until now, but this latest quirky video hasn’t slipped by unnoticed. The video was also given an adult only rating on YouTube.

David Bowie and Gary Oldman in a video together sounds like the thing of dreams to us, so good on you Dave for only going and making it a reality. The Hollywood actor stars with Bowie in his latest video from comeback album, The Next Day, and it goes with the album's title track.

What is David Bowie trying to convey about his new album The Next Day?

By now, we're all aware that David Bowie hasn't exactly gone down the conventional route of promoting his latest album The Next Day. First single Where Are We Now? seemingly came out nowhere (few knew that Bowie was working on new material), while there has been no interviews, no press conferences, no live shows. Nothing.

The album performed strongly in the charts and the second single, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), featured a video starring Tilda Swinton. However, there was nothing from Bowie himself, until Guardian writer Rick Moody asked the singer-songwriter to supply a "work-flow diagram" for a piece for the Rumpus, because he "wanted to think about it in light of what he was thinking about it, I wanted to understand the lexicon of The Next Day."

Surprisingly, the media shy star obliged and provided a varied list of words - including 'hostage' 'isolation' and 'pressgang' - that he thinks sum up the new record. Moody wrote that the list was "really excellent," adding, "[they are] exactly in the spirit of this album, and the list is far better than I could ever have hoped, and it's exactly like Bowie, at least in my understanding of him: impulsive, intuitive, haunted, astringent and incredibly ambitious in the matter of the arts. Bowie is a conceptual artist, it seems to me, who just happens to work in the popular song, and he wants to make work that goes somewhere new, and this is amply demonstrated by the list."

Albums of Note... Tasked with the tricky mission of releasing an album that stood up to their back catalogue, after several years in the wilderness and a brief spell of time on the reunion circuit, Suede have finally released Bloodsports. Rather than opting for replicating one of their previous albums, they have amalgamated elements of all five of them.They’ve not lost their distinctive, Bowie-obsessed sound and Suede will forever have one foot in the Britpop era but with Bloodsports they have achieved what few can manage: to come back after a lengthy hiatus, ties unsevered, water under the bridge and still get back to making a quality album and reclaiming their mark on the British landscape.“Bloodsports then, is exactly the album that Suede needed to make. It is loud, aggressive, uncompromising and absolutely, defiantly Suede. Nobody else could have written these songs. Suede have done the almost impossible task of simultaneously looking back at the past while planting a foot firmly into the future.”

Could David Bowie be one of the thousands of people due to attend the London exhibition

Was David Bowie one of the 47,000 people that have already purchased a ticket to the Victoria & Albert Museum’s tributary exhibition to him? Probably not but rumour has it the rock legend may still pop along to the museum to see exactly how the curators have decided to interpret his life-story. The exhibition opens today (March 20, 2013) and a record number of people have already bought tickets to see the Bowie memorabilia on display.

One of the museum’s curators, Victoria Broakes, told The Telegraph that she was hopeful that Bowie’s passion for visiting museums and – of course – the pertinent content of this particular exhibition will prompt his curiosity to get the better of him. “We don't know of any plans he has to come to the exhibition,” said the curator. “But we know he visits lots of museums, and is very interested in museums, so I can't help but feel he's going to be interested in how we have told the story here, so I hope he will come.” Although Bowie had no direct involvement in the creation of the exhibition, or its content, the V&A were given access to his private collection so that they could include items that have not been seen before by the public, including hand-written lyrics, sketches and photographs.

Bowie, 66, recently made a surprise comeback with his album The Next Day, which was released last week. “He's a pioneer not just in music but also in stage shows, in what he wears, he's always been personally and actively involved in everything that he creates,” Broakes commented.

66 year-old is expected to take The Next Day on the road, according to his better half

Maybe she’s got fed up keeping secrets, but after being able to keep the lid on David Bowie’s plans to release his first album in a decade, with The Next Day, the star’s wife Iman has let slip to a magazine that her husband will in fact be going on tour with it, despite reports to the contrary.

The New York Daily News reports that she told print-based magazine Grazia that Bowie would be travelling to play his record live, but that his family wouldn’t be joining him. “We have a 12-year-old in school, so we are stuck, we can’t travel,” she apparently said, “our schedule is around her, so I don’t know. We’ll have to go visit him, but we won’t be on tour with him because she’s in school [in New York.]”

Given that no-one was expecting Bowie to put out The Next Day – his first album’s since 2003’s Reality – we shouldn’t be surprised if this goes either way, however it’s the first truly positive comments we’ve had regarding his touring plans, after a host of denials. One of those was the record’s producer Tony Visconti, who told the NME "He’s fairly adamant he’s never gonna perform live again… One of the guys would say, 'Boy, how are we gonna do all this live?' and David said, 'We’re not'. He made a point of saying that all the time." It looks like The Thin White Duke could have had us fooled again, but for his wife.

You know the saying… ‘hell hath no fury like an ex-wife that maybe wasn’t as happy with the open relationship you had, as she once let on…’ Well, it’s something like that, anyway. David Bowie might be getting heaped with praise from all corners of the press, for his unexpected comeback album The Next Day, but there’s one person who has been pretty vocal about her dislike of his latest creative efforts.

Angie Bowie, who was married to David between 1970 and 1980 and had a child, Zowie Bowie (also known as film director Duncan Jones), with him, has slammed the album as “boring.” She told The Sun “I listened to the first single (Where Are We Now?) and it was just awful, just diabolical. The second one was worse than that. This is supposed to be the greatest comeback of the century? It’s boring. I think every release since the first eight albums has been rubbish.” Of course, Angie may be smarting because the woman in the video for ‘Where Are We Now?’ is thought by many to be based on her. The character is played by Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, in the video. “I watched 30 seconds and couldn’t cope with any more. The subject matter is too retrospective. I am pleased he got out of his house in New York and recorded an album. But why has he been sitting in his house for ten years anyway?” came the bitter response.

Albums of Note... David Bowie’s return to the shelves of our local record shops (well, the few that still exist) has been met with a grateful and adulatory fanfare, across the board and it’s been no different here at Contactmusic. Having run out of contemporary influences upon which to draw, Bowie took the old adage that pop will eat itself and made an album to fit. On The Next Day, Bowie largely references himself and his own body of work, recalling his Berlin days, as well as providing an extension of the tracks he released in the nineties.“Assessing how The Next Day sits alongside anything else he's done is irrelevant; an artist who has gone through as many character changes, taken on as many styles and moved through as many eras as he has defies such lazy list making. What can be said is that it is, at this point in time, at this point in his life and career, probably as good a record that David Bowie could've possibly come up with.”

It’s just headline gold; David Bowie and Mick Jagger getting found in bed together, by Bowie’s wife, completely naked. Unfortunatley, it didn’t happen this morning, last night, or even this decade… or even last decade. It actually happened in 1973, and there was nothing sexual in it. It wasn’t a sexual day.

“My assistant was laughing in the kitchen when I got home,” Angie Bowie – the singers’ ex-wife - explained to The Sun. “She said, ‘You won’t believe this. David and Mick Jagger’. I went upstairs and banged on the door and said, ‘Morning! Ready for breakfast boys? I walked into the bedroom and David was there with all these pillows and duvets on top of him and on the other side of the bed was Mick’s leg sticking out,” Angie continued. “I said: ‘Did you guys have a good night?’ They were so hungover they could hardly speak. I took pity on them.” Bowie recently returned from his lengthy spell of musical silence with two well received singles that came out of the blue.

David Bowie is set to sell loads of records following his starling comeback

David Bowie returned from obscurity with a critically acclaimed album, precluded by two excellent singles. With his reputation already firmly set at ‘legend’, the pioneer doesn’t need any more accolades, but how will his records fare in the modern age of music?

Though the common-held perception of David Bowie is one of a true pioneering visionary, an artist that started trends and styles, the truth is a little more calculated. What made Bowie great in the 70's and 80's was his perception and awareness; he was an artist who cottoned on to movements and genres just as they were about to blossom, assimilating their characteristics together in order to create something new from something existing. As Tyrannosaurus Rex became T-Rex and released their self-titled LP in 1970, it was Bowie who took that glam rock and distorted it with a progressive rock narrative to become Ziggy Stardust. As the names Can, Neu!, Kraftwerk started seeping into the British music press, so it was Bowie who went to Berlin to embrace their influence; he even took Iggy Pop, whose Stooges foresaw punk by nearly a decade, along for the ride.

The funny thing is this is the norm for artists in the 21st century; there's a whole book about it - Simon Reynolds' Retromania - that summarises new musical progression as musicians reaching back to the past to fit disparate old components together, something backed up by every comparison made to another artist in a music review. Bowie's skill in doing this was quite a singular one at his peak, and it's why his classic records have remained so retrospectively popular. By absorbing so much of each era he passed through, his music became the definitive sound of them, pulling together all strands from glam, to punk, disco, krautrock, to create this tapestry that all different musical tribes could stake a claim to as theirs. But back then there was always something new to latch onto; in 2013, if you take Retromania's argument as truth, the only movements Bowie could take from would be something already looking into the past - which has never been the The Thin White Duke's style. So when it comes to The Next Day, his first album in a decade, he's taken influence from someone who he's rarely tipped his cap to before - himself.

The most obviously self-referencing song on here you already know: 'Where Are We Now?' name drops heavily on Bowie's time in Berlin, with the narrator apparently coming to terms, aptly enough, with how his past has shaped his present. However, there are little codes and reminders all over the place. 'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die' - which, along with closing track 'Heat,' are the closest sonic cousins 'Where Are We Now?' has in their melancholic reflective state - cheekily slips in the drum beat to '5 More Years' in its coda. Elsewhere you have fourth track 'Love Is Lost,' a clear ancestor to Bowie's Berlin period, with its unsettling organ strains and electronic pulses cutting through an otherwise forthright rock chug, pulling it down to somewhere bleaker, darker. The Berlin trilogy is often heralded as his greatest work, and it's clear that the period in the late 70's that saw Low, "Heroes" and Lodger's release remains ingrained within their creator. Though nothing here goes anywhere near as weird as 'Warzawa' or 'Neukoln,' the eerie tension that held those three records together is returned to again and again, even if - on the likes of 'Valentine's Day,' it barely nudges it off course.

David Bowie is one of the world's biggest and most beloved musicians. His work has transcended mere music and he has been heavily involved with theatre and film, he's responsible for such delights as Labyrinth as well as setting some incredible trends back in the '70s. He's even inspired Shakespeare adaptations with exclusively Bowie soundtracks in the Netherlands. All of this counts towards the electric excitement felt about his latest record- the first new album he has released in a decade. So, did it live up to expectations? Simple answer: yes.

The Mirror's review describes The Next Day as "the sound of a man fully engaged and energised by life and, indeed, his own musical past." That sense of aliveness is also referred to by Entertainment Weekly in their review, adding that the album "finds Bowie very much alive and vacillating between forward-looking restlessness and outright nostalgia. Day takes the idea of returning to past experiments and exposes them to gamma radiation, speeding up the evolution process."

The Guardian gave it 4/5 stars, saying: "Despite the lyrical density, The Next Day's success rests on simple pleasures." Summing the album up, reviewer Alex Petridis said that it is "thought-provoking, strange and filled with great songs."

David Bowie has received strong reviews for his new album The Next Day.

David Bowie caught just about everyone off guard after announcing his twenty-fourth studio album The Next Day on his sixty-sixth birthday earlier this year, releasing lead single 'Where Are We Now?' and the accompanying video shortly afterwards.

Few even knew the Thin White Duke was working on new material, though the pieces to the puzzle began to fit and it emerged Bowie had been working on new material with Tony Visconti while holed up in New York for the past two years. And we all thought he was chilling out in Central Park and drinking coffee in SoHo.

With no 'guest appearances' - a staple of many 'returning albums' - The Next Day is very much a product of the long-time working relationship between Bowie and Visconti. Familiar faces were called in, Gail Ann Dorset on bass, Sterling Campbell on drums, both of whom have worked with Bowie since the 1990s. Saxophonist Steve Elson - a long-time collaborator - also plays on the record.

David Bowie has released the video for new single 'The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’

David Bowie’s new single ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ hasn’t caused as much of a stir as last month’s ‘Where Are We Now?’ – we all know that he’s back now of course. However the video for the new track has made the single another talking point on the comeback trail, with the seminal musician appearing far more fully in the promotional clip, alongside actress Tilda Swinton.

As Simon Cowell revealed that if he could have anyone as a judge on the X Factor it would be David Bowie, the first reviews have started coming in for the Thin White Duke’s long-awaited comeback album The Next Day. With such hype about Bowie’s first album in a decade, dare any of the critics suggest that it’s not all that much cop? Or has everyone toed the line?

To that X Factor story first though; talking to the Daily Mail, Cowell commented “It's no secret I've asked him, and he hasn't said yes yet, but I'll keep extending the invitation.” Continuing, he added "Why Bowie? He's a legend. He's a great songwriter, he has massive influence on music today and he's 100 per cent credible. I'm a fan. Not just of his music but of him, the man. He's cool. Most of us aren't. Bowie is."

Strong endorsement indeed, and Bowie will have found more coming from the assorted critics who’ve heard The Next Day thus far. “It is an enormous pleasure to report that the new David Bowie album is an absolute wonder” writes the Daily Telegraph, before adding that its “urgent, sharp-edged, bold, beautiful and baffling, an intellectually stimulating, emotionally charged, musically jagged, electric bolt through his own mythos and the mixed-up, celebrity-obsessed, war-torn world of the 21st century.” The Guardian comments “Listening to The Next Day makes you hope it's not a one-off, that his return continues apace: no mean feat, given that listening to a new album by most of his peers makes you wish they'd stick to playing the greatest hits.” The Independent meanwhile simply comments “David Bowie’s The Next Day may be the greatest comeback album ever.” Heady stuff.

David Bowie's return to music earlier this week took just about everyone by shock, with the musical icon giving us full details into his next release and a shiny new single/video to go with it.

There's still one detail that Bowie forgot to clear up though, and its been nagging everyone all week: will he be going on tour? The answer, at first, was no. His producer on The Next Day and long time collaborator Tony Visconti was quizzed about the Starman's current standing point with hitting the road by NME, and he said quit simply that Bowie has had enough of touring and it is doubtful that we'd see him on stage in the near future playing songs from his upcoming album. Then, Bowe's guitarist Earl Slick revealed to Ultimate Classic Rock that he and the rest of the band want nothing more than to bring the work of Bowie back on stage for the first time in over six years - things were looking promising.

And now, things are looking even more promising as Visconti has come forward again, this time talking to The Telegraph, and saying that in fact, Bowie may be open to performing again. Ok, he did say that a tour is pretty much off the cards, but still, a show or two might be just what the doctor ordered to get David dreaming of being back on stage. Visconti said: "He doesn’t want to tour any more. He’s had enough of it. But he hasn’t ruled out that he might do a show."

When David Bowie's new single was released earlier on in the week, he would have been expecting refined commentators of the music scene to gush frantically, not Harry Hill's head to appear in place of Jacqueline Humphries.

You see, in the video, the very strange video, Bowie's head is next to Humphries', who is the wife of the 'Where Are We Now?' video's director Tony Oursler. But in this ridiculous spoof version, believed to have been made by writer Michael Moran, Harry Hill's face replaces hers, while the comedian pulls funny faces throughout the short promo clip. Meanwhile, speaking about the possibility of live shows, David Bowie's guitarist Earl Slick said: "We don't know. Obviously, we want him to. But right now, that's a big if... I could get a phone call tomorrow saying, 'Hey, you know what? Here's the setlist.' I don't know. I can't speak for him or the organisation. Obviously, the band would love to go out. Even if it's not a huge tour, we would like to go out and do some gigs. But that's yet to be seen."

Slick added that he recorded his parts on Bowie's forthcoming new album last summer. "David got in touch with me out of the blue, and he said, 'I'm ready to go back in. What are you doing? Are you around? Are you touring?' I said, 'No, just get me some dates.' We started banging dates around - and he was already recording - and I went in and did all my stuff in July."

David Bowie’s comeback single WILL be eligible for the UK singles charts this weekend after a statement from the Official Charts Company quelled worries by Bowie fans after reading reports that suggested ‘Where Are We Now?’ wouldn’t be eligible for inclusion after its release on Tuesday (January 8, 2013).

The Guardian reports that the issue surrounding its eligibility arose when it was revealed that those pre-ordering Bowie’s new album The Next Day – due out in March - from iTunes were receiving the track for free with their order. The charts doesn’t include songs that are given away for free and so it was assumed that ‘Where Are We Now?’ wouldn’t be able to be included. However, maybe they were feeling cheerful or maybe it was because they could feel the breath of millions of Bowie fans breathing down their neck, but the Charts Company said that they would include the track, so long as they were given separate figures by iTunes for those downloads which were paid for and those which were free with the pre-order.

‘Where Are We Now?’ was the first new David Bowie song to be released in a decade, since 2003’s album Reality. Released on his birthday, it subsequently emerged that the 66 year-old has been working for the past two years on his new album, alongside producer Tony Visconti, with no one having an inkling.

David Bowie's new single has caused a resurgence for his older stuff, as fans of his set to remind themselves of the masterful collection he put out over a career spanning six decades. And he's still going.

Within hours of the single, Where Are We Now being on the net, and the announcement of The Next Day - Bowies first musical peep for 10 years; the new album set for March - The Best of Bowie shot to 5th in the iTunes charts. It currently sits 4th.

Gennaro Castaldo of entertainment retailer HMV said: "The thing with Bowie, as with any chart icon, is that when people are reminded of the brilliance of his music, they want to listen to it again, and alongside his original followers still enjoying his albums on CD and vinyl, his songs are now just a download away for a whole new internet generation of potential fans that are out there, so we can expect an explosion of interest in 2013.

We've seen nothing, nothing from David Bowie for 10 years, and now the Brixton-born space-rocker hits us with a new single, and announces a new album. Is this the best day ever? Is it?

The new single is entitled Where Are We Now?, and his new album, The Next Day, will be out in March. You can read our review of the new single here.

According to The New York Daily News, "Sonically, it couldn't be more somber or troubled. Slowly, gracefully, Bowie sings in a voice of genuine gravity. The song's video paints him as equally pained and burdened."

So you might have noticed that David Bowie has returned. In a century where we’ve pretty much exhausted all the supposed legends of the 20th century, each one coming back for one final pay day and a chance to remind them and their fans of a youth they’ve long since left behind. Some don’t like to pretend they’ve left it: the new Rolling Stones songs off their recent greatest hits compilation Grrr! still pine for a time when Mick Jagger was the pin-up boy of the 70’s, when the ‘Stones really did growl with a snarling energy.

But the difference between the Stones and The Who, is that David Bowie – even if his material in the latter years of the 90’s and turn of the millennium didn’t always match-up to his golden era of the 70’s – has always tried to look forward, even as music tastes and trends have gradually changed so that more and more acts of today seem to try and sonically represent the future as the past. By this we mean you could take a field sample of thirty relatively successful acts of 2012 and reel of a list of those they sound like from bygone eras. David Bowie’s comeback single ‘Where Are We Now?’ is by no means near the best song he’s ever written, it’s probably not even the best he’s written in the past 20 years (not many given he’s been artistically dormant for 10 of them), but it sounds intrinsically his own.

That clattering sound you thought you heard this week? Yeah, that was a thousand music journalists collectively dropping their pens when David Bowie suddenly released a new single - Where Are We Now? - on his 66th birthday. The British icon, now settled in Manhattan, also announced his first album in 10 years - The Next Day - set for release on March. Bowie, a forward thinking songwriter, addresses mortality and the past on his latest single, fuelling speculation as to whether the singer's latest record could well be his last.

There were murmuring of Bowie's return to the fray in 2012, though most expected him to appear at the London Olympics opening ceremony, sing Heroes and hop back on a plane to the East Coast of America. It never happened, and fans of the superstar were left sighing as Danny Boyle instead screened filmed footage of Bowie during his whistle-stop tour of Britain's pop history. Reviews of Where Are We Now? have been wholly positive, with our own Simon Jay Catling musing "this is a track that maintains the hallmarks of its creator's canon - lyrical signposts, themes that are never fully decoded, questions that open up more questions." Luke Turner of The Quietus said, "The song itself, well, it's proper Bowie, but with a really gorgeous swell, and at times heart-rending reflective tone to it. Brilliant stuff. My word." The Daily Telegraph - who also offered a positive review - quoted a spokesman as saying the track came "from out of nowhere," adding, "Throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie despite his extraordinary track record that includes album sales in excess of 130 million not to mention his massive contributions in the area of art, fashion, style, sexual exploration and social commentary."

It's amazing the difference a hiatus makes in music these days - even David Bowie looks likely to feel its benefits. The explosion online that greeted the announcement of a new album in March and a new track in 'Where Are We Now?' was comfortably loud enough to suffocate the fact that, just over a decade ago, the Thin White Duke was - if not a man on the creative decline - certainly one whose profile was slipping, with 2003 LP Reality doing well initially but fading from view quickly. As did Bowie himself not long after, with health problems and the inevitable march of time apparently giving him a new perspective on life, the famous workaholic finally slowed down.

You just knew there'd be one final word though; Reality was too open-ended, too suggestive that Bowie's well wasn't quite empty yet. If many of the reams of plaudits he's received, over 40+ years of making music, for his innovation and ingenuity came about because of his intuition for picking the merest sparks of a new sonic style or trend and contorting them into his own image (see Ziggy Stardust picking up on glam, teaming up with Iggy Pop before punk broke, trekking to Berlin as Kraftwerk came to the fore), then what you can say about 'Where We You Now?' is that at 66 he's looking no further than introspectively. You'd be hard pushed to picture anyone else writing this song.

'Where Are We Now?' is a wistful, melancholic - though not downcast - ballad that lyrically appears to recall Bowie's time spent in Berlin (although apparently recorded in New York, with Berlin Trilogy producer Tony Visconti). It's a gracefully cinematic piece that puts his unique vocal at its fulcrum. Bowie sounds like Bowie should at 66 - his voice is thinner, it cracks a little, but from those fissions weep the longing and reflection that shapes the track's mood. Whilst others among the old guard like The Rolling Stones, still talk dirty in a desperate attempt to convince that we're still getting them at their testosterone-fuelled best, this is a track that maintains the hallmarks of its creator's canon - lyrical signposts, themes that are never fully decoded, questions that open up more questions - but transfigures them to the here and now. And for David Bowie, the here and now would appear to be just as enriching as it always was.

An enigma to the last, a David Bowie return was always likely to be done in a way that would take the music industry completely by surprise, no matter how big his profile is. In these days where everyone takes their turn to make a comeback, it was getting to the stage where he was the only artist left to do so. As he celebrated his birthday today (January 8, 2013) though that all changed. A new song ‘Where Are We Now?’ has appeared on Bowie’s website, and a new album is expected for March.

He’s hoodwinked us all; back in October of last year The Daily Mail claimed that the man once known as Ziggy Stardust was a recluse, reportedly turning down a request to appear at the Olympics closing ceremony and not having written a song since 2003 (when he released his last album Reality). Turns out they were wrong however. Bowie has been working with his long-time producer Tony Visconti to ready his first album in a decade, already available for pre-order on iTunes – according to USA Today – and titled The Next Day. The album artwork is the same as on Bowie’s “Heroes” album, though with a white square and the words ‘The Next Day’ pasted over the top in black; does this mean that this is continuation of his critically famous Berlin Trilogy of Low, “Heroes” and Lodger, released 1977 to 1979?

The track itself offers some clues, with German references littered in, and a haunting video that recalls Bowie’s time spent in Berlin. Aside from the sheer elation echoing around Twitter this morning, there is some discussion as to who the woman joining Bowie in his video is. Beyond that, can we also surmise that he will in fact be making an appearance at Glastonbury this year? There’s going to be a lot of smug ticket holders if so. Check out ‘Where Are We Now?’ on Bowie’s website.

Ah, the life of the jet-setter. Marion Cotillard was spotted by the Daily Mail, landing at LAX on Thursday (November 1, 2012), after winning an award at Harper’s Bazaar’s Women of the Year Awards in London the night before. Marion picked up the gong for International Actor of the Year at the glittering, celebrity-studded ceremony.

Cotillard was looking pretty pleased with herself as she arrived in Los Angeles, dressed casually in dark trousers, a knitted sweater and blazer, all toped off with a bakers’ boy hat, hiding her hair. The Dark Knight Rises star had opted against wearing any make-up but hey, if you’re on a along haul flight and you have the face of Marion Cotillard… frankly, who needs make-up?

At the awards show, however, it was an entirely different matter, as she looked positively sparkling. Teaming up a pair of striking white shoes with a black dress, which had a touch of ‘The Black Swan’ about it, Cotillard accessorised her outfir with a sparkling diamond necklace.

Universal won clearance Friday to take over EMI, but with a few provisos to the deal, reports the Associated Foreign Press.

European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Universal Music agreed to part company with some of the biggest-selling acts in the business including Coldplay, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and Cliff Richard, to get the deal approved, but perhaps the biggest loss will be French house music producer and DJ David Guetta. They will now acquire the talents of The Beatles, who EMI claim have all-time sales at more than a billion records and huge online revenues continuing. They also benefit from Katy Perry and Robbie Williams "to icons like The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Genesis and Bob Seger," owner French group Vivendi said in a statement. The deal "will benefit the artistic community and music industry," it added.

The decision to merge the two musical superpowers wasn’t without it’s complications, with some bodies concerned that it would create too much power over the terms it sets for digital platforms such as Spotify and Apple's iTunes that distribute music direct to consumers. “Competition in the music business is crucial to preserve choice, cultural diversity and innovation," Almunia said in a statement earlier. "In this investigation, we have paid close attention to digital innovation, which is changing the way that people listen to music." Basically, it’s worth loads and loads of money.

What is most shocking about Station To Station - besides perhaps the sheer quality of the songs, which are amongst the best David Bowie has written - is how cohesive it sounds. Despite (as he now admits) effectively recording it from underneath a mountain of cocaine, despite having spent the previous decade continually changing both persona and genre, and despite working hard to ensure that it sounded little like the records that preceded it, Bowie managed to create a unified piece of pop art, a single-minded exploration of a particular sound.

Quentin Tarantino and David BowieWednesday 22nd July 2009 Quentin Tarantino at HMV Oxford street on the eve of his Movie premiere 'Inglourious Basterds' to sign copies of limited edition singles Cat People by David Bowie which features in his film London, England

Like most viewers of his documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip, director George Hickenlooper (The Man From Elysian Fields), doesn't seem initially all that impressed with little Rodney Bingenheimer. A small, black-clad moppet with a Monkees haircut, Rodney may be this legendary DJ for Los Angeles alt-rock powerhouse KROQ, but how cool could he be? Then there's that scene early on when Rodney's taking us through his house, showing his walls of framed photographs and letters, some quite impressive, when he gets to Elvis's driver's license. You can hear Hickenlooper stop short and ask, "What? How did you get that?" Rodney says off-handedly, "Oh, he gave it to me," as though talking about somebody loaning him a dollar, before tottering away on his little matchstick legs.

To look at the life of Rodney is to look at a near-complete history of several decades of music. A shy kid from a broken home, Rodney left Mountain View, California, for Hollywood in the early 1960s and never really left. Quickly making himself at home on the Sunset Strip scene, Rodney surrounded himself with every kind of celebrity, especially from the music industry. One interviewee after another comments on his Andy Warhol-like blank demeanor that allows the famous and talented to see reflections of themselves. But there is also an eternally childlike innocence to him that was quickly picked up on: Cher, who practically adopted Rodney for a time with Sonny, talks about how you could just tell that Rodney never wanted anything from you, just to be there and absorb the glittery experience was enough. There's a sense of a kid trying to make up for his own fractured past with a famous family, and also just looking for someone to take care of him.

Throughout most of David Bowie's 1973 concert film "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars," the flamboyantly androgynous (at the time) rock legend's performance isn't half as interesting as his gender-bending wardrobe.

In pancake makeup and his trademark spiky orange glam-mullet, Bowie's outfits include a duster-sleeved, silk kimono robe mini-dress and knee-high boots; a striped one-leg, one-sleeve body stocking accessorized with a boa and bangles the size of ring-toss rings; and a mesh shirt that reveals his beanpole frame, worn with a pair of capri pants and open-toed platform heels.

But for the first hour of the movie -- which was filmed at the farewell performance of the Ziggy Stardust persona and is now being re-released in a mediocre and muddy but "digitally remastered" print -- Bowie does little more in these get-ups than absent-mindedly pace the stage song after song, pausing once in a while to swing out a hip to place a hand on.